Julia Reda (Verts/ALE
).
– Madam President, the promise of the European Union is the unconditional validity of fundamental rights, including freedom of speech. It is the Commission and the Council’s responsibility to uphold these values when they are threatened inside the EU, and this is not an internal matter. This week, the front pages show images of charges of Spanish police in Catalan schools.

Another serious form of repression took place in the weeks leading up to this weekend. Spanish police raided the registrar of the Internet domain ‘.cat’. Its CTO, Pep Masoliver, was held for more than 60 hours and is now facing criminal prosecution. More than 140 domains were blocked and a number of domains were seized, including websites run by civil society organisations. These measures are counterproductive; they undermine freedom of speech and they set a dangerous precedent for a Europe that wants to be a champion of digital rights.

The European institutions should immediately offer intermediation to help de-escalate the situation, and I call upon both sides of the conflict to accept such an offer and refrain from further steps that would escalate the situation. It should be on the top of every agenda, including the European Council meeting.